"I try not to pay too much attention to it," Maple Leafs prospect Morgan Rielly said. "Hopefully I get a chance to play (Thursday against the CIS) and prove myself. And if I do, who knows what that means? I try not to make any judgements on what (being a healthy scratch) means or anything like that."

Even Scheifele was not ready to say he would be going to Russia. A returning player would have to break his leg to be cut the following year.

"You can't take anything for granted," Scheifele said. "If I play (Thursday), I'll work my hardest and show coaches I deserve a spot on this team."

Perhaps, but there is one certainty. The parents of the players who are healthy scratches Thursday can start making travel arrangements to get to Ufa, Russia. Their kid will be on the team.

SITTING DOESN'T SIT WELL WITH SCHEIFELE

Mark Scheifele would have preferred to play Wednesday, if only to continue to learn his new position.

The Winnipeg Jets prospect, a healthy scratch against the University of Alberta, acknowledged that playing right wing instead of centre has put him on a learning curve.

"I caught myself thinking too much (in the Red-White game Tuesday)," Scheifele said. "It was my first time doing it in an actual game and it was totally different. Doing it in practice, and then in a game, it becomes a real-life situation."

If the pieces fall correctly for coach Steve Spott, Scheifele, who got tips from his coach with the Barrie Colts, Dale Hawerchuk, before departing for the selection camp, will be on a line with Ryan Nugent

Hopkins at centre and Jonathan Huberdeau on the left side.

Though the Jets say they're still talking with Hockey Canada about their plans for Scheifele if the NHL lockout ends, the 19-year-old is moving forward with the idea that he will be in Russia for the duration of the tournament.

"It eases your mind a little bit," Scheifele said. "If I make this team and I am here for good, it helps. Clears my mind."

FROM THE HASH MARKS

Players say all the time what an honour it is that they get a chance to wear Canada's colours, but as teens, they're not always capable of following through. Case in point was the overall uninspiring effort against Alberta. Spott acknowledged he was disappointed, and for good reason. Where was the passion? Where was the desire? It was inexcusable for the players to come up lame when jobs on the junior team are there for the taking, no matter that Alberta is ranked No. 1 in the CIS. "I expected more," Spott said. "Players are given an opportunity to shine. There were some players who did not take advantage of a very good opportunity because there are jobs to be had here. I said from Day 1, don't have any regrets. And some players may have some after (the first cuts are made)." ... If there is any concern with the way that forward Tom Wilson plays with reckless abandon at times, remember that Hockey Canada was able to convince the rambunctious Steve Downie in successive years (2006-07) to play within boundaries. If Downie could do it, there's no excuse for any other player to not follow suit. But it didn't help Wilson's cause that he was serving a charging minor when Alberta scored its fourth goal ... Though Malcolm Subban had a rough first period, allowing three goals on the first seven shots he faced, few goalies would have stopped the slapshot that Torrie Dyck fired over Subban's left shoulder ... Tyler Graovac, one of the five eventual cuts, had a great chance on a breakaway, while Canada was shorthanded, but the puck rolled off his stick before he could get a shot off against Laurent Brossoit ... Aside from Wilson, there was no shortage of players for Canada willing to throw the body around. Griffin Reinhart nailed Burke Gallimore and Mark McNeill crunched Rhett Rachinski into the side boards. Even Nathan MacKinnon got into it, hitting Zach Dailey early in the third period ... Defenceman Mathew Dumba, despite being the seventh overall pick by the Minnesota Wild in June, has no guarantees of making the team. But he made a nice play to get back and take a scoring chance away from Rachinski ... Both Daniel Catenacci and Frank Corrado were on the bubble heading into the game. But there was Catenacci setting up Corrado for Canada's only goal, a hard shot to the top corner that beat Brossoit.

POINT SHOTS

Ouellet, nursing a sprained ankle, skated in the morning and reported only good things afterward. "There was a lot of physicality in his skate where he had to battle and he came off unscathed," Spott said ... He might not be a household name, but it was not surprising that Hudon was a healthy scratch. Spott thinks the Montreal Canadiens got Hudon with a steal in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL draft and figures he can use the 18-year-old in any situation ... Jonathan Drouin's failure to capitalize on a turnover summed up Canada's inability to score. Drouin intercepted a Jordan Rowley pass, but his feeble backhand on Jake Paterson harmlessly went wide ... Canada's forwards appeared to be nervous. We expected more from the likes of MacKinnon, Drouin and Ty Rattie.

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Being healthy scratch is good news for Canadian kids

While it's not official, about half of Canada's world junior roster has already been assembled.

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Morgan Rielly has made the cut. The defenceman was a healthy scratch for Canada's game Wednesday afternoon against the University of Alberta. That Rielly is not playing points toward his inclusion on Canada's final 23-player roster. Coach Steve Spott knows what he has in Rielly and the other players who won't play Wednesday and doesn't need to see them against Alberta.